


Open Your Mind

by tptigger



Category: The Tomorrow People (1973)
Genre: Gen, circa 1978, episode: Castle of Fear, post episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28121487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tptigger/pseuds/tptigger
Summary: Andrew learns where Hsui Tai grew up and it does not go well.
Relationships: Andrew Forbes & Hsui Tai
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Open Your Mind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [malinaldarose (coralysendria)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coralysendria/gifts).



> Many thanks to my beta!

Andrew shut his drawer and flopped onto the bed of his cabin. It was small--Mike said they mostly spent time in the lounge, but at least it wasn't drafty like his room back at the castle. He was glad he wouldn't need to sleep there for awhile. After his father freaking out on him for using his special powers and locking him in a dungeon, well...

His father had, of course, apologized. Claimed he must've been possessed by the devil. Andrew... was about as sure there was a devil as he was sure about a god, so he wasn't sure if he bought that or not. His dad believed it, but had still apologized, meaning it. Andrew had accepted the apology, and that should be it, shouldn't it?

A soft tap on his door interrupted his woolgathering.

"Come in."

"Andrew, do you need any help?" Hsui Tai hovered in the doorway, looking at her shoes, the wall, pretty much anywhere but at Andrew.

Mike had told Andrew that she was the most recent TP to break out before he came along.

"I'm done unpacking. Thanks for offering, Hsui Tai," Andrew said.

She inched a few slow steps into the room. "Are you all right?"

Andrew frowned, trying to both figure out how to put what he was feeling into words and to figure out how much he _should_ put into words. "I'm just thinking--about my dad."

Hsui Tai took another step into the room. "When he locked you in the basement?"

Andrew nodded.

"It must have been very frightening."

"Aye," Andrew said. He gestured towards the desk, hoping Hsui Tai would take the hint and sit down.

"It was very brave of you to forgive him." Hsui Tai stepped over to the chair.

Andrew bit his lip. "I... I didn't want to stay mad, but I'm also kind of glad to be here."

Hsui Tai pulled the desk chair closer to the bed and sat down.

"Would you forgive your dad if he did something like that to you?" Andrew asked.

"I don't know," Hsui Tai said. "I never met him."

Andrew bit back an "I'm sorry"--people always said that when he told them about his mother, and he hated that. "That must be hard. What happened to him?"

"I don't know." Hsui Tai folded her hands, setting them on her lap. "John tried to look for my parents after I broke out; he couldn't find them. They must have moved after they gave me to the Temple of Shansu."

"They what? Why would they do that?"

"Because I was a goddess."

Andrew blinked. "You..." He paused. Couldn't think of the right words to say to that.

"That's what the monks of Shansu told them. They told me that too."

"I thought John said no one broke out until puberty."

"That's right," Hsui Tai replied.

"So why would they think you were a goddess?"

"There were signs," Hsui Tai said. "Signs the monks never told anyone."

Andrew wrinkled his nose. "That's really fishy."

"Mike said that too."

"If they were the only ones who knew the signs, then how did they even know where or when to look for a god or goddess?"

"They would go looking after they were reborn," Hsui Tai said. 

"Reborn?" Andrew echoed. "So like reincarnation?"

"Yes."

"And you just... believed that? That's not even real!"

"To you. To us it was a way of life."

"Why would it matter though? I mean, if you were going to be reincarnated...."

"Reborn."

"Whatever. Then why would it matter how you lived? If you were going to just get a do over what was the _the point_? Besides, how did they explain a god getting sick and dying?"

"They didn't get sick; when it was time for them to be reborn they were placed into purifying flame."

"You mean their bodies..."

"No. Usually around when we turned 16."

Andrew shot up like a bolt. "You mean you were part of a cult?"

"What is a cult?"

"It's um... It's um..." Andrew stammered. How should he explain?

There was a gentle knock on the door frame. Elizabeth stuck her head in. "May I join you? Or am I interrupting?"

"Elizabeth, what is a cult?" Hsui Tai asked.

Elizabeth flinched. "Why would you want to know that?"

"Andrew wants to know if I was in a cult."

"Andrew, that's hardly kind!" Elizabeth turned to him, scolding him.

Andrew blinked.

"Hsui Tai can you give us a few minutes please?"

"I don't understand."

"I'd like to speak to Andrew privately, please," Elizabeth said.

Hsui Tai frowned, but got up and walked out of the room.

Elizabeth sat down, her face drawn. "Andrew what were you thinking?"

"Seriously?" Andrew asked. "She said she lived in a temple and was waiting to turn 16 so they could ritually sacrifice her."

"Yes, I know." Elizabeth shifted, crossing her ankles. "It was certainly brutal, but you have to remember that Hsui Tai grew up not knowing any other way. How would you feel if she called Christianity a cult?"

"Honestly, given the way my father behaved today, I'd wonder if she might be right." Andrew rubbed at temples. "I haven't been to church in a couple of years--I just sort of... stopped believing."

"But your father, he still believes." Elizabeth leaned in.

"Yes." Andrew wrinkled his nose.

"Would you call Christianity a cult to his face?"

"Not before today." Andrew frowned. Reconsidered. "No, not even then. It's disrespectful."

Elizabeth crossed her arms. "So, tell me, why does Hsui Tai deserve less respect than your father?"

Andrew furrowed his forehead as he thought. "She can't ground me?"

"Is that the only reason you respect your father?" Elizabeth asked. "Because he can ground you?"

Andrew thought for the moment. "Before or after today?"

Elizabeth got up on the chair and sat down next to Andrew on the bed. "I don't really know which to talk about first, your feelings, or you taking your feelings out on Hsui Tai."

Andrew hung his head, twiddling his thumbs resting in his lap. "You were leading up to 'why does Hsui Tai deserve less respect than your father' weren't you?"

"Yes," Elizabeth said.

"The answer is she doesn't." Andrew raised his head, looking Elizabeth in the eyes. "Everyone deserves basic respect. I think I probably owe her an apology."

"Probably?" Elizabeth asked.

"OK, definitely," Andrew said. "Really, Elizabeth, you remind me of my teacher."

Elizabeth chuckled. "Well, I am a teacher, so..."

"That checks out then."

"Which leads us to what happened with your father."

Andrew winced. 

"Would you rather let it fester?" Elizabeth asked reasonably.

"I guess not," Andrew said. "I know he was just scared of what he didn't understand, but locking me up? What would have happened if Angus hadn't shown up to let me out? Or if you hadn't shown up to explain."

"You sound pretty grateful for someone who ran away from Mike the moment he tried."

"I was scared! I didn't know him--for all I knew, my dad had called some kind of weird exorcism service and Angus was in on it and they all three staged the whole thing to trick me into admitting I was the devil or something."

"Would your father have really done that?" Elizabeth rested a comforting hand on Andrew's arm.

Andrew shrugged. "Two days ago I'd have told you he never would have locked me in the basement. I wouldn't have shown him what I could do if I thought he would react like that. I was so shocked--I wasn't thinking very clearly."

"You're disappointed that he didn't trust you."

"Aye," Andrew said sullenly.

Elizabeth patted his shoulder. "It's always a little... disappointing when you realize that your parents are in fact human and not superheroes."

"Turns out I'm the superhero? Sort of." Andrew smiled sardonically.

Elizabeth cocked her head for a moment, considering. "Sometimes we are; we spend a lot of time protecting the Earth from aliens--I supposed that's sort of like being a superhero."

"Aliens?" Andrew felt his eyes grow wide.

"Yes, I have tons of stories." Elizabeth stood up. "We all do."

"I want to hear them," Andrew clambered off of the bed, "but I think I should probably apologize to Hsui Tai first."

"That, Andrew, is an excellent idea," Elizabeth said.

* * *

He knocked on Hsui Tai's door.

"Come in." Hsui Tai's voice was like ice.

Hsui Tai was sitting at her desk, writing something in what looked like it might be an exercise book. She looked up at him . "John told me what a cult is." 

Andrew took a step back under her glare. "I'm really sorry, Hsui Tai. I shouldn't have just blurted that out; it was disrespectful."

"Just because you don't understand does not mean something is bad," Hsui Tai replied.

Andrew bit down a "but they were going to kill you!" It might've been true, but it was unproductive.

"I know. I was rattled by the events of the day, and I spoke before I thought." He paused. "I hope we can still be friends despite getting off on the wrong foot."

Hsui Tai frowned, considering.

"I'll try not to blurt out every thought that comes into my head?" Andrew asked. "At least not the unkind ones."

"That would be a good start," Hsui Tai said. "You must remember that I, and some others you'll meet, will be able to hear you."

"Telepathy? You can't turn it off?"

"Not always," Hsui Tai said. "We'll teach you to keep us out, but it can be very hard. Especially if you are upset. It is harder than learning to think before you speak."

"I really am sorry."

"I forgive you. When I first broke out, I didn't understand... many things. Things are very different." Hsui Tai paused. "As a Tomorrow Person you will meet many people. Some from far away. Some not from Earth."

"Aliens."

"Yes," Hsui Tai said. "They will all have different ideas about what is right and what is wrong. They don't deserve to be judged by your idea of what is right. Only theirs."

Andrew tilted his head. "Even if they think killing is right?"

"The monks didn't think they were killing the children. They thought they were helping them to live forever."

Andrew frowned, unconvinced.

"I don't believe that either," Hsui Tai said. "Not anymore. The monks also."

"That's good to hear."

"But even in my own country they were not..." She paused, frowning. "Not usual. Aliens are very different"

"Do we have to accept whatever aliens think is right?"

"On their home planet yes," Hsui Tai said. "Here, no. It is still easy to cause trouble if you don't understand."

"Like what?"

"I should tell you about the time we met the Thargons."

"Yes, please," Andrew said.

So she did.

The End


End file.
